2020 Racial Equity Response
As one of the very first independent schools in New England to enroll Black students, Shady Hill has a long and storied history of working towards racial equity and justice. This work is never done. Racism and white supremacy are deeply rooted in our society and are also present in our institution, demanding an ongoing, thoughtful, systematic response. We must examine our mistakes and missteps, and take responsibility for the pain and harm we’ve caused in moments when we did not live up to our racial equity mission. Through this honest and transparent assessment and analysis, we can repair relationships, build new systems and practices, and shift ideologies and culture to create a more equitable school.
Shady Hill is proud of its commitment to providing a sense of belonging for all students, and affinity groups are an important resource for building communities. Affinity group spaces provide opportunities for our students to connect around shared experiences. Our newest affinity group, called Gender-Expansive Kids, welcomes students from Beginners to Grade VIII who identify as transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming, or gender identity other than cisgender. In addition to our affinity group spaces, the Middle School has added a new program called Social Justice Spotlight. In pursuit of our mission to develop students who are “intellectually adventurous and wholeheartedly just,” all Middle School students this year, whether they attend an affinity gathering or not, engage in conversations and activities focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion during Social Justice Spotlight time. Aligned with the Shady Hill commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging, the School announced in May 2021 to expand and rename the Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Practice to the Equity Office. In the fall, education consulting firm Diversity Directions virtually revisited the School to help assess and focus the mission of the Equity Office as we advance our work at Shady Hill.
Twenty-six individual Zoom meetings were held with members of Shady Hill’s Black community. Participants had the option to meet with Head of School Mark Stanek, Director of Diversity and Multicultural Practice Erica Pernell, and/or Consulting Psychologist Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter. Most (70%) met with Mark Stanek and Erica Pernell together. Guided by principles of truth and reconciliation, racial healing, and restorative justice, the confidential conversations sought to repair harm, to restore relationships and to provide information to guide our institutional strategy.
Participants expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate in this process and valued the School’s work (philosophically, programmatically, culturally, and demographically) to advance racial equity at Shady Hill and in the world. Alumni and former faculty felt seen, heard, and supported. However, session participants shared that there is still much work to be done. We are grateful for the stories shared in each session, which yielded three distinct, essential themes for growth:
- Increase racial diversity by including and retaining more Black students and employees.
- Create systems to identify, prevent, and remedy the impacts of racism on Black community members.
- Ground our curriculum, pedagogy, and other programming in antiracist principles.
These conversations informed an immediate short-term action plan and longer-term strategies that include: trainings for all constituents; workshops on racial equity and antiracism; revised admission and hiring practices; a review of Board governance practices; affinity programming; codified grievance processes; faculty and staff evaluative and accountability processes; and programmatic reviews. Click below for more details as well as an evolving timeline of action steps.
Click here to view a 45-minute presentation on this entire process by Erica Pernell and Mark Stanek.
After holding listening sessions with the Black community, we categorized the takeaways into three major themes: 1) Increase racial diversity; 2) Create systems to identify, prevent, and remedy the impacts of racism, and 3) Center our curriculum, pedagogy, and other programming on antiracist principles.
Increasing racial diversity
In order to attract and retain a racially diverse community, we must continue to build an antiracist school culture that supports and affirms Black students and employees. Listening session participants underscored the need for a critical mass of Black students and employees in order to normalize a culture of anti-racism. Inconsistent representation of Black students and employees was identified as an inhibitor to full racial equity.
Session participants emphasized the importance of recruiting and retaining a critical mass of Black faculty and staff to ensure there are plenty of people who “look like me” for guidance, mentorship, and support. Several participants also noted that a lack of cultural competency on the part of white families, employees, and students impacted their experience. In order to retain Black students and employees, work must be done to ensure racial equity is further embedded into the culture of Shady Hill.
Identify, prevent, and remedy racism
The relationships that support our work at Shady Hill depend on equitable partnerships with all members of the community: between employees and students; employees and families; employees and their colleagues; among students; and among families. Session participants noted that many relationships at Shady Hill were transformative and empowering. However, several participants shared incidents of racial bias and racism that caused them pain and undermined their sense of belonging and ability to be heard. We must create systems to prevent, identify, and remedy the root causes and impacts of racism.
We acknowledge the need for a restorative process that facilitates the reporting of identity-based harm and the importance of implementing proactive strategies that ensure all Black students feel cared for, loved, and seen. We seek to use training and accountability systems to improve the cultural competency and racial equity skills of all members of our community, particularly our employee and parent bodies.
Grounding program in antiracist principles
Shady Hill’s unique global multicultural curriculum focuses on exploration and discovery, presenting a critical opportunity to center racial equity and justice in the classroom. When reflecting on the current curriculum, session participants noted that the curriculum provided exposure to a multitude of perspectives and cultures and fostered a deep appreciation for diversity, but that they were left searching for connections between the curriculum and their own lives as Black students experiencing racism in the world around them. Some families expressed that their children’s teachers were uncomfortable when faced with the task of talking about contemporary racial issues, and wondered whether the Shady Hill educational experience offered enough positive identity development for Black students and other students of color. In order to prepare all of our students to work for racial equity, we must ground our curriculum, pedagogy, and other programming in antiracist teachings and principles, and intentionally develop students’ critical awareness and their positive racial identity. Session participants recommended the following:
- Foster critical awareness about race, racism, and antiracism;
- Increase our teaching on issues of race, class, and stereotypes;
- Explore and rectify racial impacts of the service learning program;
- Support the development of positive racial identities;
- Provide role modeling and mentorship and expose the community to a wider representation of Black people via guest speakers, residencies, workshops, etc.;
- Review academic placement practices to ensure racial equity.
Programming will run from Monday, June 24 to Friday, August 2 on weekdays from 8:15 AM–3:30 PM (except Thursday, July 4). Aftercare will be available from 3:30 PM–6:00 PM (except Friday, August 2).
Rising SHS Beginners are welcome to register for Session Three, Busy Bees Program! More updates about one-week specialty programs to come.
.png){kind=logo}
